Venues

Style

Colors

Whenever a creative in the wedding business throws their own wedding bash, it always (emphasis on the always) gets our wedding love’s complete and undivided attention. We fall hard each and every time and this New York affair of one half of A.a.B. Creates and her love is so gush worthy that we’re devoting a whole afternoon to its beauty. It’s NYC meets an explosion of color and gold glitter. Can you think of anything better? Not I says the wedding blogger. Heather Waraksa + Dave Robbins Photography captured all the lovely moments along with all the crazy awesome details, which include a glorious gold cake. But, we are going to make you wait a wee bit longer for that beauty unless you’re dying to get a sneak peek, in which case we have the full gallery right here.

From Xochitl of A.a.B. Creates… The greatest challenge when you design and plan weddings for a living is what to do when it’s time for you yourself to get married! So when Mayra’s boyfriend Aja proposed, after doing this for other couples for almost nine years, we had the exciting chance to plan a wedding of “our” own. Honestly, at first it was overwhelming trying to figure out the best way to bring together Mayra’s family from California and Aja’s family from upstate New York. Ultimately, they decided that everyone should get a chance to see what their lives are like, and a New York City Wedding was decided on. Initially, the thought was to keep it super small and only invite family (and me, of course) to a small ceremony and then a dinner, but after meeting with Carla Ruben at Creative Edge, they realized that, as a couple, they enjoyed a good party too much to call it a night after dinner. So instead, they invited friends to join them for a tequila and taco party, and we all danced into the night.

On the day itself, Mayra and I got ready at The Standard Hotel while Aja got ready at Gild Hall. Dave met up with Aja to follow him around and because we always see our vendor “friends” when we’re on the other side of the day planning, it was fun to and relaxing to have Heather and Leslie come and hang out with us. Mayra and her family took some photos around the meatpacking district and the Highline before they got on the “family bus.” Then, because Mayra is a no-fuss kind of gal — we just hopped in a cab with Heather.

The ceremony was at St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia, where Aja went to law school. Meredith and her team at Regas New York created an amazing letterpress invitation that had a belly band with the invitation language in Spanish. The Catholic ceremony was filled with traditions from both of their backgrounds. In honor of her Mexican roots, a Mariachi was playing when guests arrived, and they incorporated both the Laso and the exchange of coins, or Arras, in the ceremony. To close the ceremony they “jumped the broom,” which was made by Aja’s mother, following an African-American wedding tradition. Their rings were made by a relative of Mayra’s in California, and Mayra had Aja’s band engraved with one of their favorite Chaka Khan lyrics “I know you, I live you.” Following the ceremony we headed downtown to Creative Edge for cocktails and an intimate dinner. Cocktails were held in their Design Studio loft, with the amazing backdrop of cool culinary displays and cooking racks. Guests munched on amazing hors d’oeuvres, such as mini pulled pork sandwiches and adorable bite-sized tacos. The Mariachi played away, and the bride and her dad danced a traditional Mexican dance impromptu before dinner.